The picture below is my Leica IIIC, a camera that was manufactured in 1950, the year I was born. At the time it was first sold, it cost the equivalent of $3,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars. It is an entirely mechanical camera – no auto anything. With fine-grained film, it will produce a 35mm film image that can match the output of a 20-megapixel digital camera sensor. It is difficult to load, slow to rewind, and has a squinty little viewfinder, but it is a glorious artifact. The elegant contours, the satin chrome finish, and the silky-smooth film winding action and shutter release all whisper timeless quality.
...